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I spotted this empty sign on a drive south of Bismarck yesterday afternoon. I risked getting the truck stuck in the mud as I eased off the roadway into the ditch, determined to get the shot. I eased slowly onto the grass, bolted out and slogged over to the fence, and did my photographic duty. I dashed back to the truck and started rolling again before the tires could sink into the mud, and eased back out onto the road as if nothing had happened. Then I got to home satisfied that my “long way home” travel route had paid off.

Sunset…moon?

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Yes, that’s right – the Golden Hour light provided near sunset can be extremely helpful in taking a nice shot of the visible moon. The waning sun’s effect on the sky has two effects, casting a pleasing tone on the moon as well as providing a well-lit backdrop. It’s harder to get a nice shot of the moon in a totally dark sky than it is in a nicely colored one.

Of course, both the tone of the moon and the tone of the sky are due to the sun’s effect on our atmosphere, not on the moon itself. Regardless of the “how”, the “what” is a pleasing tone of sky and moon that are more evenly matched than after dark.

If you like photography and have a good telephoto lens, try this sometime. I think you’ll be pleased with the result.

My encounter with the Whirling Chicken O’ Doom

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I’ve wanted to take a crack at photographing this chicken at the Village Mart in south Mandan for a while but wasn’t sure about how to treat the photo. I opted for a late night monochrome shot with plenty of grain. I don’t know if it makes it look spooky but my eye likes it. No actual chickens were harmed in the production of this photo…that I know of. The chicken ain’t talking.

A new dimension to my photography passion

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Lately I’ve had a little four year old helper on my photography trips! In this photo, little PJ is using my first digital camera, a point-n-shoot I got nearly ten years ago. He’s also wielded my Canon 20D and 7D DSLRs,although they are much more difficult for his little hands to hold.

He’s GOOD, too. So far I haven’t really given him any training other than to show him how to zoom and take the picture. I’m curious to see how he views his world through the viewfinder and am eager to see this perspective totally untainted by outside influence. In time I’ll teach him what I’ve learned about technique, but I do recognize that this kid has natural talent.

I’ve seen photos and video taken by adults with plenty of experience that are off-level, poorly framed, and the like…but PJ frames all his shots nearly perfectly level and has a good sense of perspective. I plan to nurture these talents in him and am beaming with pride to have a little photography buddy to go roaming in the truck with me!

Wallbuilders’ Rick Green visits Bismarck for all-day Constitution class

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Many thanks to New Song Church for hosting Rick Green, one of my favorite podcast personalities! On the 20th of January I attended an event where Rick spent the day teaching us about something we should all study more: American history. In particular he gave us a few hours of background on the mindset of the nation’s founders and authors of our founding documents, using their own writings to put some context to their work in creating the framework for this great nation.

The rest of the morning and the afternoon session consisted of step-by-step study of the United States Constitution. There’s some extremely interesting stuff in there, and our country has gone down the wayward path it’s on largely because of our ignorance (average citizen and politicians alike) of this document.

I bought a lot of books by various authors and also won a couple, as Rick occasionally rewarded people who could belt out answers to tough questions. One I got was means for addressing judicial misconduct (impeachment), and the other was John Quincy Adams’ signature issue, one which he pursued as a member of Congress after serving as President: abolition of slavery. He was one of only two Presidents to return to public service in Congress after his term, by the way.

I cannot give enough of an endorsement of Rick Green and David Barton and the work that they do. Rick is a former legislator and full time Texan, by the way. I told him that I can’t be a Texan, but at least I married one.

You can learn some very interesting things about our nation, its founders, and the documents which created these United States by tuning into the Wallbuilders Live podcast, a free daily half-hour podcast featuring David Barton and Rick Green. They give a lot of interesting news and background on what they call “the intersection of faith and politics” and refer back to the words of those who wrote the framework of our great nation.

Click here to visit the Wallbuilders website.

Click here to visit the Wallbuilders Live podcast website.

Here’s a link to Wallbuilders Live through iTunes.

Fix the Tax meeting

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Last week I attended a “town hall” style meeting for the Fix the Tax movement. I was interested in hearing what they have to say, and to me it makes sense: keeping North Dakota’s oil extraction tax competitive with other states will keep the oil companies drilling here, which in turn generates revenue and jobs (in other words, prosperity) for North Dakota.

On the panel above are radio host Scott Hennen, Dustin Gawrylow (ND Taxpayers’ Association), former Governor Ed Schafer, Brett Narloch (ND Policy Council), and Grover Norquist. Each had something very interesting to say from a different standpoint.

After each presented their ideas about the extraction tax, microphones made their way around the room for people to chime in. There were plenty of stories about rigs moving to states with lower taxes, even now. Governor Ed made the point that North Dakota only sees revenue when oil is extracted from the ground, not when one pilot well is drilled.

The math would seem to be in their favor: where one well is being drilled now, three or four would be drilled with a lower extraction tax. Knock off a percentage point in order to compete with Montana, for instance, and triple the output, and the result is more revenue for North Dakota. That means more money for infrastructure, et cetera.

Want more details to make up your own mind? Visit FixTheTax.com to hear what they have to say.

On the hill

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This was the sky that greeted us as my little boys and I reached the top of the hill at the University of Mary. I was done with work for the day and took them in the truck to see a sunset. That’s something we haven’t been able to do a lot lately, for a variety of reasons.

While the sky to the north and east was clear, this line of clouds awaited us to the west. It gave us a great display but cut the sunset short as the clouds grew thicker above the horizon. It was still a glorious sight.

Now that the sunset is getting later in the day, I’m able to enjoy this with my little boys. Over winter it occurs before I’m done with work for the day, and in midsummer it occurs way after the little guys need to go to bed. That means we’re now approaching the “sweet spot” of our sunset viewing availability window. I’m so blessed that my little guys like to chase sunsets with Daddy!